Bob Geldof is getting married.
The Boomtown Rats frontman has proposed to longterm girlfriend Jeanne Marine after 18 years together, and the couple hope the happy news will give their family something to focus on following the tragic death of his daughter Peaches last month.
Jeanne’s friend Jerry Hall told the Daily Mail newspaper: "Bob has proposed. She is over the moon.
"Jeanne Marine has been a rock and a tower of strength over this. I’m so excited for her I am bursting to tell someone.
"Bob and Jeanne have been through hell, but they are determined something positive will come out of it.
"After all the sadness, we need something to focus on which will bring joy and light."
Jeanne revealed her happy news to Jerry when the Texan model returned to the UK for Peaches’ recent funeral.
She added: "I’ve just got back from Texas and accompanied Jeanne to the funeral. It was, of course, terribly sad, but she told me that Bob had asked her to marry him out of the blue.
"I’m so happy for her. It makes you realise we all have to value what we have."
Bob, 62, began dating 49-year-old Jeanne after meeting at a dinner party in Paris, where he had fled to after his divorce from Paula Yates – the mother of his children Fifi, 31, Peaches, and Pixie, 23 – in 1996.
Paula died of a heroin overdose four years later, and the ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ hitmaker took on the care of her and the late Michael Hutchence’s daughter Tiger, now 17.
Meanwhile, it is expected to be announced today (01.05.14) that Peaches died of a heroin overdose.
Bob Geldof to marry
